Battery pack, tool battery and battery operated tool
A lithium-polymer based battery pack for power a hand held power tool or a garden tool, the battery pack has a plurality of battery cells located within housing that is selectively connectable to and supportable by a hand held power tool or a garden tool. The battery cells have a lithium-polymer based chemistry and a nominal charged internal impedance of less than or equal to approximately 5 milliohms. In one embodiment the cells are think cells are stacked within the housing such that each sell is layered over or under an adjacent cell and a resiliently deformable substrate located between adjacent battery cells. In another embodiment the cells may be interconnected to have a combined output voltage of at least 9 volts and to produce a combined average discharge current of greater than 20 amps. A lithium-polymer tool battery and a battery powered tool are also part of the invention.
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This application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 14/899,833, filed Dec. 18, 2015, which is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/CN2014/080868, filed Jun. 26, 2014, which claims priority to Hong Kong Patent Application No. 13107541.4, filed Jun. 26, 2013 and Hong Kong Patent Application No. 13107780.4, filed Jul. 3, 2013. The entire contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to battery packs, and to tool batteries and battery operated tools. In particular, the invention relates to a battery pack suitable for powering a hand held cordless power tool.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTIONPower tools and in particular hand held power tools are increasingly relying on cordless rechargeable battery packs as a powering energy source. Such battery packs are preferably compact and lightweight, but must still deliver relatively high current and voltage for powering the tool motor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a lithium-polymer based battery pack, a lithium-polymer based tool battery and a lithium-polymer based battery operated tool as set forth in any one of the appended claims.
In particular, in a first aspect of the invention there is provided a lithium-polymer based battery pack for powering a hand held power tool or garden tool, the battery pack comprises a housing selectively connectable to and supportable by a hand held power tool or a garden tool, at least one battery cell located within the housing, the cell having an output voltage of at least 4 volts and producing an average discharge current of greater than 10 amps, wherein the battery cell has a lithium-polymer based chemistry and a nominal charged internal impedance of less than or equal to approximately 10 milliohms. Preferably there is a plurality of battery cells located within the housing, the plurality of cells being interconnected to have a combined output voltage of at least 4 volts and a combined average discharge current of greater than 10 amps, wherein each cell has a lithium-polymer based chemistry and a nominal charged internal impedance of less than or equal to approximately 10 milliohms.
In a second particular aspect of the invention there is provided a lithium-polymer based tool battery comprising a battery housing selectively connectable to and supportable by a hand held power tool or a garden tool, a plurality of substantially flat battery cells stacked within the housing such that each sell is layered with an adjacent cell, and a resiliently deformable substrate located between the adjacent battery cells, wherein each battery cell has a lithium-polymer based chemistry and a nominal charged internal impedance of less than or equal to approximately 10 milliohms.
In a third particular aspect of the invention there is provided a lithium-polymer battery powered tool comprising a tool housing, an electrical motor in the tool housing, a motor controller for controlling power supplied to the motor from an electrical energy source, a battery housing selectively connectable to and supportable by the tool housing, and a battery within the battery housing for supplying power to the motor controller and motor when the battery housing is connected with the power tool housing, the battery comprising one or more battery cells, the cell or cells being having a combined output voltage of at least 4 volts and producing a combined average motor supply current of at least 10 amps, wherein each battery cell has a lithium-polymer based chemistry and a nominal charged internal impedance of less than or equal to approximately 10 milliohms.
Further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only to illustrate the invention.
Various embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The following description is given by way of example only to illustrate embodiments of the invention. The terminology used is for illustrative purpose only and is not intended to limit the scope or use of the invention, unless the text clearly and explicitly requires otherwise.
A preferred embodiment of a battery for such types of cordless tools has a battery pack housing 11 have a mating face 12 for connecting to the tool. The battery housing 11 is selectively receivable with and supportable by the tool housing via battery connection features, and may be selectively separated from the tool for charging in a separate charger (not shown). One typical embodiment of battery mating features is illustrated in
A substantially flat cell 30 according the invention has a cell length L, cell width W and cell height or thickness H. In the preferred embodiment the cell thickness H is less than 10% of the cell width W. This provides a substantially flat lithium-polymer cell which can be stacked in interconnected groups, as illustrated in
The tabs 34, 35 from respective ones of the stacked plurality of battery cells 30 are connect together in series and/or parallel in order to provide the required average discharge current and combine output voltage of the battery 40. The connection between the respectively terminal tabs 34, 35 of adjacent cells 30 must be of a lower resistance than the internal resistance of the cells 30 and preferably of a very low resistance so as to prevent heating in the interconnection joint between the cells 30. It is typical in battery manufacturing to interconnect adjacent battery cells by welding respective cell tabs at a weld joint 38. In the preferred embodiment of the invention each battery cell 30 has its respectively pair of tabs 34, 35 on different edges of the cell 30 and preferably on symmetrically opposite edges of the cell 30. This arrangement allows the plurality of cells to be easily interconnected in a string of cells 30 by jointing respective tabs 34, 35 of adjacent cells 30 with a weld joint 38. As the terminal tabs 34, 35 of the cells extend from opposite ends of the cell 30 the weld joint can be quickly and easily formed by a weld between adjacent cells 30 without potential for bridging or shorting adjacent terminal tabs of the same cell which in prior art battery designs may be along a same edge of the cell.
After electrical interconnection of the cell tabs 34, 35 the interconnected cells 30 are formed into a vertical stack of cells 30 as shown in
The cell interconnection tabs 34, 35 extended between adjacent stacked cells 30. To support and protect the interconnection tabs 34, 35 from mechanical damage in some embodiments of the invention a guide member 36 is provided at respective locations adjacent the edge of the stacked cells 30 to abut the interconnected tabs 34, 35 between adjacent cells 30. The guide member 36 has a convex guiding surface that abuts the joined tabs 34, 35 extending between the adjacent cells and supports the joined tabs about a smooth radius between the adjacent cells 30.
The interconnected stack of cells 30 forming battery 40 is located within a battery pack housing such as housing 11 of the battery of
In some embodiments further mechanical protection of the pouch cell battery is provided by enclosing the stack of battery cells 30 within a shell or case 50 as shown in
Within some embodiment a small PCBA is attached to the tabs 34, 35 of the battery cells. Such a PCBA can comprises a sensor for transmitting a voltage dependent sensor signal to the battery controller 44, or a battery charger controller for determining cell voltages for using in, for example, cell balancing operations. In a further embodiment of the invention one or more sensor elements can be located between adjacent cells for measuring temperature and other cell characteristics. In one embodiment a pressure sensor is provided between adjacent cells for detecting expansion in cell thickness during charge and discharge cycles. If pressure or deformation of the substrate between adjacent cells exceeds a threshold this may indicate an abnormal and possibly dangerous cell condition. Signals from such sensors are transmitted to the battery controller 44, or a battery charger controller.
Traditional lithium ion cells used in tool batteries are mechanically contained in a strong cylindrical metal can. These cans are grouped together to form a battery and located in a battery pack housing. The interior of the housing has a first housing volume and the grouped cell cans defines a combined battery volume. The fill-factor of a cylindrical body in a substantially square or rectangular housing is at best Pi divided by 4 (Π/4) or 78%. The stacked flat cells of the present invention provides a ratio of the combined battery volume to housing volume (fill ration) of greater than 80%, allowing for a smaller more light weight battery.
In the various embodiments described above the battery comprises a plurality of interconnected cells. In at least one alternative embodiment the battery may comprises just one lithium polymer based chemistry cell. In other alternative embodiment the battery may comprises between 2 and 20 interconnected cells, or more preferably between 2 and 10 interconnected cells. In yet another embodiment the battery may comprises between 3 and 5 cells interconnected in series. In the various embodiments the cells may be interconnected in series, in parallel, or groups of series cells may be interconnected in parallel in order to obtain a desired output voltage and combined average discharge current.
Claims
1. A lithium-polymer based battery pack for powering a hand held power tool or a garden tool, the battery pack comprising:
- a housing selectively connectable to and supportable by a hand held power tool or a garden tool; and
- a plurality of battery cells located within the housing, the plurality of cells being interconnected to have a combined nominal output voltage of at least 4 volts and being capable to produce an average discharge current of greater than 10 amps, wherein each battery cell has a lithium-polymer based chemistry and a nominal charged internal impedance of less than or equal to approximately 10 milliohms,
- wherein each of the plurality of battery cells is supported within the housing in a resiliently deformable cradle surrounding at least a part of each battery cell, wherein each resiliently deformable cradle includes side edges so as to provide mechanical protection for sides of each of the plurality of battery cells,
- wherein a cradle frame fitted with a cover is arranged to hold a stack of the plurality of battery cells, each of the plurality of battery cells held within its own respective resiliently deformable cradle,
- wherein the cradle frame fits within the housing,
- wherein the cradle frame is a case enclosure having a base and four surrounding side walls defining a cavity for holding the stack of the plurality of battery cells,
- wherein an opening is provided in each of two opposed side walls of the four surrounding side walls of the case enclosure to allow space for and accommodate connection access to a plurality of terminal tabs connecting the plurality of battery cells within the case enclosure, and
- wherein each of the plurality of terminal tabs are provided with an exposed connection terminal disposed on a surface of the cover.
2. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 1, wherein each battery cell is located and supported within a cell channel defined through a face on the respective resiliently deformable cradle.
3. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 1 wherein each of the battery cells includes an anode electrode sheet, a cathode electrode sheet, and a lithium-polymer based substrate located between the anode and cathode electrode sheets, and
- wherein each of the battery cells is generally flat and has a cell width and a cell thickness, the cell thickness being less than 15% of the cell width.
4. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 1, wherein the plurality of battery cells are layered within the housing such that each battery cell is lying adjacent to another one of the battery cells, and further including a resiliently deformable substrate between the adjacent battery cells.
5. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 4, wherein the resiliently deformable substrate defines the resiliently deformable cradle, and
- wherein the side edges of the resiliently deformable cradle integrally combine with the resiliently deformable substrate.
6. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 5, wherein the resiliently deformable substrate is thermally conductive,
- wherein the lithium-polymer based battery pack includes at least one sensor element located between at least two adjacent ones of the battery cells, said sensor element providing a sensor signal to a battery controller, and
- wherein the sensor element includes a temperature sensor.
7. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 4, wherein a pressure sensing element is located between at least two adjacent ones of the battery cells, the pressure sensing element configured to provide a pressure sensor signal to a battery controller.
8. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 1, wherein the housing defines a housing volume and the plurality of battery cells provides a combined battery volume, and wherein a ratio of the combined battery volume to the housing volume is greater than 80%.
9. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 1, wherein each of the battery cells includes a first connection lead connected with an anode electrode sheet of the battery cell and a second connection lead connected with a cathode electrode sheet of the battery cell, the first connection lead extending from a first edge of the battery cell and the second connection lead extending from a second edge of the battery cell, the second edge being a different edge than the first edge.
10. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 9, wherein the plurality of battery cells are stacked vertically within the housing such that each battery cell is layered with another adjacent battery cell,
- wherein at least one of the first and second connection leads are joined with a connection lead of an adjacent battery cell.
11. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 1, further including a guide member having a convex guiding surface abutting the joined connection leads extending between adjacent battery cells.
12. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 1, wherein each resiliently deformable cradle includes two or more resiliently deformable members each abutting at least one respective battery cell.
13. A lithium-polymer based battery pack for powering a hand held power tool or a garden tool, the battery pack comprising:
- a housing selectively connectable to and supportable by a hand held power tool or a garden tool;
- a plurality of battery cells located within the housing;
- a plurality of resiliently deformable cradles, each resiliently deformable cradle surrounding and supporting at least a part of each battery cell, wherein each resiliently deformable cradle includes side edges, and wherein each resiliently deformable cradle further includes an integrally formed guide member having a convex guiding surface abutting a terminal tab included in a plurality of terminal tabs connecting the plurality of battery cells within the case enclosure; and
- a cradle frame configured to hold the plurality of battery cells within the housing, each of the plurality of battery cells supported by its respective resiliently deformable cradle,
- wherein the cradle frame is fitted with a cover.
14. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 13, further comprising:
- a printed circuit board assembly attached to the cover, the printed circuit board assembly containing electronics for controlling the lithium-polymer based battery pack.
15. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 13, wherein the plurality of battery cells are layered within the housing such that each battery cell is lying adjacent to another one of the battery cells, and further including a resiliently deformable substrate between the adjacent battery cells.
16. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 15, wherein each resiliently deformable cradle integrally combines with a respective resiliently deformable substrate.
17. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 13, wherein each of the battery cells includes a first connection lead connected with an anode electrode sheet of the battery cell and a second connection lead connected with a cathode electrode sheet of the battery cell.
18. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 17, wherein the plurality of battery cells are stacked vertically within the housing such that each battery cell is layered with another adjacent battery cell,
- wherein at least one of the first and second connection leads are joined with a connection lead of an adjacent battery cell.
19. The lithium-polymer based battery pack of claim 13, wherein each resiliently deformable cradle includes two or more resiliently deformable members each abutting at least one respective battery cell.
20. A lithium-polymer based battery pack for powering a hand held power tool or a garden tool, the battery pack comprising:
- a housing selectively connectable to and supportable by a hand held power tool or a garden tool; and
- a plurality of battery cells located within the housing, the plurality of cells being interconnected to have a combined nominal output voltage of at least 4 volts and being capable to produce an average discharge current of greater than 10 amps, wherein each battery cell has a lithium-polymer based chemistry and a nominal charged internal impedance of less than or equal to approximately 10 milliohms,
- wherein each of the plurality of battery cells is supported within the housing in a resiliently deformable cradle surrounding at least a part of each battery cell, wherein each resiliently deformable cradle includes side edges so as to provide mechanical protection for sides of each of the plurality of battery cells,
- wherein each resiliently deformable cradle further includes an integrally formed guide member having a convex guiding surface abutting a terminal tab included in a plurality of terminal tabs connecting the plurality of battery cells within the case enclosure,
- wherein a cradle frame fitted with a cover is arranged to hold a stack of the plurality of battery cells, each of the plurality of battery cells held within its own respective resiliently deformable cradle,
- wherein the cradle frame fits within the housing,
- wherein the cradle frame is a case enclosure having a base and four surrounding side walls defining a cavity for holding the stack of the plurality of battery cells,
- wherein an opening is provided in each of two opposed side walls of the four surrounding side walls of the case enclosure to allow space for and accommodate connection access to the plurality of terminal tabs, and
- wherein each of the plurality of terminal tabs are provided with an exposed connection terminal disposed on a surface of the cover.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Nov 9, 2021
Date of Patent: Mar 5, 2024
Patent Publication Number: 20220069366
Assignee: TECHTRONIC POWER TOOLS TECHNOLOGY LIMITED (Tortola)
Inventors: Denis Gaston Fauteux (Tsuen Wan), Wing Keung Woo (Tsuen Wan)
Primary Examiner: Haroon S. Sheikh
Application Number: 17/522,449
International Classification: H01M 10/42 (20060101); H01M 10/052 (20100101); H01M 10/0565 (20100101); H01M 10/48 (20060101); H01M 10/6235 (20140101); H01M 10/647 (20140101); H01M 10/653 (20140101); H01M 10/6555 (20140101); H01M 50/105 (20210101); H01M 50/211 (20210101); H01M 50/24 (20210101); H01M 50/51 (20210101); H01M 50/557 (20210101);